All Forum Posts by: Nicho C.

 Bruce, I am only asking if this is a viable option to say, by doing this am I legally doing my job as a landlord to stand firm on the terms of the lease.  Like I mentioned before, I believe they are just trying to find ways to break the lease without penalty and intend to end the lease regardless.  I just want to make sure my actions are legally sufficient to stand firm on the penalty for breaking the lease.  I hope this makes sense.  Thanks for your input and i look forward to hearing your response.

I also forgot to mention the tenant before the previous tenant I had to evict which took 4 months with a lawyer.  So I am definitely learning everything the hard way but I am learning lol. I'm working on getting my real estate license so this is not something I want to give up on doing myself. Thanks for your input, i'll definitely make sure to not make the same mistakes moving forward.

 Yes, I agree but apparently its due to a medical condition. My issue with just allowing them to "break" the lease without penalty is the house is actually reaching 65-68.  The master bedroom and office is only mildly warmer for whatever reason.  Every time i've went to the house with an AC tech the home was freezing.  I believe they are just trying to find any excuse to break the lease because they got their first couple electric bills.  I do not want to do any favors if I am abiding by agreed terms. 

Thanks again for your response, look forward to hearing your reply. 

 Hey Richard, 

I appreciate the response.  Would it not be a viable option to add the mini-split and ceiling fan?  The rest of the home is reaching 65-68 while the two rooms are only mildly warmer.  Like I stated before, I believe the only reason they want to break the lease is they didn't realize how much the electric bill would be and want to leave without penalty.  As a landlord, as long as I make sure the rooms are reaching 65-68 in whatever way, am I not sticking to the original agreement?  I already have done the previous tenants a favor by letting them break the lease when they purchased a new home and now after moving in this family 3 months ago, I'd like to stick to terms of the lease if they wish to break the lease.  Again, thank you for your response and I look forward to hearing your opinion. 

Hello BP community,

I am currently renting a home to a family that has been in my unit for about 3 months.  Since they've moved in there's been numerous complaints about the A/C not cooling to the desired temp and maintaining the temp.  Each time I've addressed the issues by calling an A/C company to come out and check/fix the problem.  (The tenant wants A/C to reach 65-68 in the home.)  Multiple times it has reached the desired temp but struggled to maintain due to various reasons which have been addressed (+its been 100 degrees outside for the past 3 weeks).  After the most recent A/C repair, the home reaches 65-68 consistently but now the tenant is complaining that, although the house is reaching 65-68, the master bedroom and office are not getting to that temp.

Nowhere in the lease does it state that the temp must reach 65-68. but I have an e-mail response to the tenant before they moved in where they asked, "due to wife's medical condition, temp needs to be kept around 65-68, will A/C be sufficient to accommodate this?"  To which I replied, "Yes the AC works fine."   **Before move-in I had an A/C company verify the unit is fully functional and problems started to happen after they began utilizing the system to maximum capacity. 

To "fix" the issue of room temp A/C company said would cost thousands per room to tear into the wall to check the ductwork. To me, this is not an option because the room is just a few degrees warmer than the thermostat.  Instead, I offered to install a mini-split in the bedroom and a ceiling fan in the office. 

They are insisting they would rather be released from the lease without penalty and it wouldn't be "fair" to have to break the lease to the terms.  (Penalty for breaking lease is 60 days notice + additional 2 months rent fee)

I've done everything in my power to accommodate the tenant and diligently had professionals come out each and every time in a timely manner to address the A/C issues, and even offered to add mini-split and ceiling fan but they would still rather me break the lease without penalty.

My theory: They regret renting a 3000sq ft home with high ceilings where the A/C is kept at 65 all day and night in 100-degree weather and got their first couple of electric bills and want to find a way to get out of the 1-year lease without penalties.

1. Based on my actions and my proposal to fix A/C issues, am I legally good to stand my ground and make them abide by the terms of the lease? 

2. Am I even legally obligated to accommodate a mini-split and ceiling fan to the 2 rooms although the house as a whole is reaching the desired temp? 

Thanks for any/all advice. 

Looking to invest in SFH in the Sarasota area, any recommendations/concerns, things to look out for? Thanks.

Hello, I’m currently renting a home in San Antonio, TX.  As you all know we experienced a really bad storm recently.  (The home we are renting is in below average shape, built in 91.  Rated a C overall in move-in inspection.) To prepare for the storm and avoid burst pipes we followed all necessary precautions:  left hot and cold water trickling throughout home. Left cabinets under sinks open.  Unplugged hose.  Kept heat set at 70. (House temp maxed out at 50).  And after all of that, we still had a pipe burst in the wall by the master bedroom/ master bath to the outside.   As soon as we discovered the issue we shut off the main water valve and contacted Property Management as well as SAWs.  An emergency service was submitted 20FEB and a plumbing company came by 21FEB for a brief inspection.  They reported that they must rip open drywall to find the pipe.  PM confirmed 22FEB APPROVAL for vendor to proceed with repairs.  25FEB still haven’t heard from vendor, reached out to PM and they say they will call and reach back.  Also tells me, “btw tenant is responsible for repair costs.” They point to the following lines in the lease : 

PLEASE NOTE:
Paragraph 21. LIABILITY: Unless caused by Landlord, Landlord is not responsible to Tenant, Tenant's guests, family, or occupants for any damages, injuries, or losses to person or property caused by fire, flood, water leaks, ice, snow, hail, winds, explosion, smoke, interruption of utilities, theft, burglary, robbery, assault, vandalism, other persons, condition of the Property, environmental contaminants (for example, carbon monoxide, asbestos, radon, lead-based paint, mold, fungus, etc.), or other occurrences or casualty losses. Tenant will promptly reimburse Landlord for any loss, property damage, or cost of repairs or service to the Property caused by Tenant, Tenant's guests, any occupants, or any pets.

So they are implying that unless directly caused by landlord, EVERYTHING is the tenants responsibility?  In this case the damage wasn’t caused by the tenant, so who is liable ?  Is this Liability note even legal ? How can they just place all responsibility caused by anything on the tenant ? 

I looked up this line from Texas Law and I’m wondering if it has any merit in this case :

A landlord who knowingly violates Section 92.006 by contracting orally or in writing with a tenant to waive the landlord's duty to repair under this subchapter shall be liable to the tenant for actual damages, a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $2,000, and reasonable attorney's fees. For purposes of this subsection, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the landlord acted without knowledge of the violation. The tenant shall have the burden of pleading and proving a knowing violation. If the lease is in writing and is not in violation of Section 92.006, the tenant's proof of a knowing violation must be clear and convincing. A mutual agreement for tenant repair under Subsection (g) of Section 92.0561 is not a violation of Section 92.006.

Anyway I would love some input from the community on this issue.  I just want this resolved In a fair/legal way. It just doesn’t seem right.  Thanks for any and all input.